This disclosure relates to a tooling fixture that is used to position a component to remove cracks from a component surface.
A gas turbine engine includes a turbine section with turbine blades. A turbine blade includes a platform, an airfoil extending outwardly from the platform in one direction, and root extending outwardly from the platform in an opposite direction. The turbine blade also includes a plurality of cooling holes. These holes can be formed in the airfoil, the root, and/or the platform.
The cooling holes are orientated to extend at different angles relative to each other, and each cooling hole includes a hole surface that can have cracks. A blending tool is used to machine the hole surfaces to remove the cracks. In one known method, the turbine blade is held in a fixture that is mounted to a base. The base includes flanges that support a pivot pin. The fixture is mounted to the flanges such that the fixture can pivot on the pivot pin. Due to the differing angular orientations of the cooling holes, it is difficult to position all of the cooling holes such that the blending tool can remove cooling hole cracks. This is especially difficult for cooling holes that are positioned underneath the platform, i.e. at or near the root. Thus, some of the cooling holes can be properly positioned, while others cannot.
For these difficult to reach cooling holes, an operator will remove the turbine blade from the fixture and hold the turbine blade in their hands. The operator then manually operates the blending tool to remove the cracks. This is time consuming and could potentially cause injury to the operator, as the operator is holding the turbine blade and blending tool in their hands.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a fixture assembly and machining method that can efficiently remove cracks from a component.